Method, apparatus and software for tape drive mechanical fault detection

摘要

The invention provides a method, apparatus and software for detecting mechanical faults in tape drives. The invention is especially suited to detecting collisions against a read/write head in a tape drive that occurs during tape threading operation. According to embodiments of the invention the read/write head is located at a predetermined position with a predetermined effective holding force, and an independent position sensor that senses the position of the read/write head is used to detect collisions against the read/write head. According to embodiment of the invention the relative frequency with which mechanical faults are detected over the course of multiple tape threading operations is evaluated to determine if there is a mechanical fault in a particular tape drive.